Thursday, November 24, 2011

Ten months

Dear Callum,

Today you are 10 months old. Today is also Thanksgiving Day. I don't think anyone needs three guesses to figure out what we are thankful for.

The big thing that happened this month is that you finally learned to crawl! You had been looking for weeks like you would do it at any time, and a couple times you crawled two or three paces, so finally one day I picked up a spare electrical cord (your very favorite thing) and put it on the other side of the rug and after a minute of looking at it and rocking back and forth, you crawled to get it. And you've been crawling ever since. It took about three days for you to get really good at it, and now you can crawl on any surface, even on hardwood, even if you're wearing slippery fleece pants. And you are FAST. A couple times we have only managed to chase you down AFTER you got your hand in the dog's water bowl. Luckily you haven't yet managed to stick your face in it.

You're also very into upward motion recently. Whenever we sit you anywhere, you pull yourself up to your knees, and often one knee and one foot. A few times you've pulled yourself to standing, but right after you did that in your crib for the first time, we lowered your mattress, thus inadvertently thwarting your progress on this front. You can thank us later, when you haven't tipped out of your crib and landed headfirst on the floor. You've also started this thing where you push up from your belly to your hands and your feet, like you're doing gymnastics. And by now you're totally stable when you sit--you never tip over anymore, ever.

This month you've displayed even more clearly that you understand words. When we ask, "Where's Mommy/Daddy/Grandma/Grandpa/Opa/Oma/the doggie/Anny (your nanny)?" you will always look at the person in question. If I say, "Where's my nose?" you touch it. If I say "high five" you hold up your hand. You continue to clap and kiss on request. Your babbling is also more varied--you say nearly every consonant sound, and you intersperse them so it sounds like you're talking. It really feels like you're on the verge of saying actual words. You have started saying "mama" in the last week or so, but since you like making the M sound in general and you haven't given us an obvious context (such as saying it right when I walk in the room), we aren't yet convinced enough to call it an actual word.

You are also very social. After our long streak of grandparent visits ended, we went back to Skype video chats with them for the first time in months. And when you saw and heard them on the screen, you smiled and reached out to touch their faces on the screen. You also try to wave, though you pretty much only succeed in flapping one arm up and down at high speed. You get upset when we use a reprimanding tone of voice, and when we take away your toys or whatever it is that you want.

You've made huge progress with finger foods this month. We've discovered that as long as you like something, you will hold it and eat it very well without dropping it. Chicken, pickles, noodles, and tomatoes are some big favorites. Whenever you eat something that you especially like, you will say "Mmmmm" after every bite. You do it so consistently that I am tempted to consider it your first word--except that "mm" isn't a word, sadly. But it's the first sound that you have clearly and consistently used in an appropriate context with a specific meaning.

Your personality continues to get stronger, and you are very clear by now about what you do and don't like. You don't throw tantrums, exactly, but if you want something or are fussy and we try to distract you with a toy, you will wait until we make eye contact and then throw the offending item on the floor as hard as you can. At restaurants when we put food on the table in front of you, more often than not you will deliberately pick it up and drop it right on the floor. You still love music and singing and games like peekaboo, and you think it's hilarious whenever someone sneezes. You are also really into toys, and whenever you pick one up, you will inspect it very thoroughly, turning it over to see all its angles and shaking it extensively to see what it can do.

You had a few firsts this month. You got your first cold and your first stomach bug, thankfully both mild. Also, your nanny started this month, the first time that you've had anyone other than family providing child care for you. After a few days of struggling at nap time with her, you seem to have adjusted nicely. You learned her name fast, and you smile and laugh whenever she comes in the room.

You continue to sleep great--about 12 hours at night. Your naps have much improved this month, and though every day is different, you will usually take one long nap of about 2-3 hours. This seems to be enough to prevent you from being cranky in the evenings, which we are all thankful for, especially as the evenings are now our main bonding time with you. You are also still growing upward--I think you are about 32.5" by now, which would mean you grew another 3/4 of an inch this month--but you actually LOST two ounces in the last month. You now weigh 27 pounds 5 ounces, which is exactly what you weighed at eight months. I think we can definitively say that you've tapered off, and we're all grateful for that--though it was definitely a little weird to hear your doctor say that we will now keep an eye on your weight to make sure you don't drop too far off your curve.

Most of all, you continue to be a delightful, happy, laid-back baby. You are happy almost all the time, and you continue to go with the flow no matter what we throw at you in terms of new people or schedule changes. You have also shown us more and more that while you don't have a whole lot of stranger anxiety, you are specifically attached to us. While you like other people, nothing makes you happier than seeing your dad or me--and when you are upset, we are the ones who can get you to stop crying. Of course we've always known that you must be attached to us--but since you're so mellow all the time, it can be easy to forget that you don't treat all things equal. We appreciate that you are attached to us--because we are very attached to you as well. We are so thankful to have you in our lives.